The Stables (also known as the Stables Theatre) is a music venue situated in
Wavendon
Wavendon is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the south east of the Milton Keynes urban area, in Buckinghamshire, England.
History and geography
The village name is an Old English, Old English language word, and means 'Wa ...
, a small village in south-east
Milton Keynes.
The Stables hosts over 400 concerts and around 250 education events a year including the National Youth Music Camps which take place over the summer.
History
The Stables was founded by
John Dankworth
Sir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE (20 September 1927 – 6 February 2010), also known as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist, clarinettist and writer of film scores. With his wife, jazz singer Dame Cleo Laine, he ...
and
Cleo Laine in 1970 in the former stables block in the grounds of their home. It was an immediate success with 47 concerts given in the first year. It now presents over 400 concerts and around 250 education events in its two spaces: the 400 seat Jim Marshall Auditorium and Stage 2, the 80-seat studio space. On 6 February 2010, it celebrated its 40th anniversary with a gala concert which was tinged with sadness because of the death earlier in the day of Sir John Dankworth. The venue was completely rebuilt in 2000, with the new foyer following the plan of the original theatre, with a subsequent development in 2007 to create Stage 2.
The Stables has hosted internationally renowned performers including
Dave Brubeck,
Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz.
A membe ...
,
Joan Armatrading
Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading, (, born 9 December 1950) is a Kittitian-English singer-songwriter and guitarist.
A three-time Grammy Award nominee, Armatrading has also been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist. She received ...
,
Courtney Pine
Courtney Pine, (born 18 March 1964), is a British jazz musician, who was the principal founder in the 1980s of the black British band the Jazz Warriors. Although known primarily for his saxophone playing, Pine is a multi-instrumentalist, also ...
,
Janis Ian
Janis Ian (born Janis Eddy Fink; April 7, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter who was most commercially successful in the 1960s and 1970s. Her signature songs are the 1966/67 hit "Society's Child, Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)" an ...
,
Craig David
Craig Ashley David (born 5 May 1981) is a British singer and songwriter who rose to fame in 1999, featuring on the single " Re-Rewind" by Artful Dodger. David's debut studio album, ''Born to Do It'', was released in 2000, after which he has re ...
,
Beverley Knight
Beverley Knight (born Beverley Anne Smith, 22 March 1973) is an English recording artist and musical theatre actress. She released her first album, '' The B-Funk'', in 1995. Heavily influenced by American soul music icons such as Sam Cooke an ...
,
10cc,
Uriah Heep,
Jamie Cullum
Jamie Cullum (born 20 August 1979) is an English jazz-pop singer, songwriter and radio presenter. Although primarily a vocalist and pianist, he also accompanies himself on other instruments, including guitar and drums. He has recorded nine stu ...
,
Bill Wyman,
Cerys Matthews
Cerys Matthews (; born 11 April 1969) is a Welsh singer, songwriter, author, and broadcaster. She was a founding member of Welsh rock band Catatonia and a leading figure in the " Cool Cymru" movement of the late 1990s.
Matthews programmes an ...
,
Gregory Porter
Gregory Porter (born November 4, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He has twice won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album: first in 2014 for ''Liquid Spirit'' and then again in 2017 for '' Take Me to the Alley''.
Early l ...
,
Nigel Kennedy
Nigel Kennedy (born 28 December 1956) is an English violinist and violist.
His early career was primarily spent performing classical music, and he has since expanded into jazz, klezmer, and other music genres.
Early life and background
Kenn ...
,
Nils Lofgren
Nils Hilmer Lofgren (born June 21, 1951) is an American rock musician, recording artist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Along with his work as a solo artist, he has been a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band since 1984, a membe ...
,
Steve Hackett
Stephen Richard Hackett (born 12 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who gained prominence as the lead guitarist of the progressive rock band Genesis from 1971 to 1977. Hackett contributed to six Genesis ...
,
Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason,
James Galway
Sir James Galway (born 8 December 1939) is an Irish virtuoso flute player from Belfast, nicknamed "The Man with the Golden Flute". He established an international career as a solo flute player. In 2005, he received the Brit Award for Outsta ...
,
Beth Neilsen Chapman
Beth Nielsen Chapman (born September 14, 1958) is an American singer and songwriter who has written hits for country and pop music performers. She was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2016. Nielsen Chapman is two-time Gra ...
and
Curtis Stigers
Curtis Stigers (born October 18, 1965) is an American jazz singer. He achieved a number of hits in the early 1990s, most notably the international hit " I Wonder Why" (1991), which reached No. 5 in the UK and No. 9 in the US.
Career
S ...
,
Steve Harley (both with
Cockney Rebel
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel are a British glam rock band from the early 1970s from London. Their music covers a range of styles from pop to progressive rock. Over the years they have had five albums in the UK Albums Chart and twelve singles in ...
and his 2-5 piece acoustic sets).
It has hosted many live broadcasts including
BBC Radio 2's ''Live from the Stables'' series,
BBC Radio 3 recitals and recordings for CD and DVD releases including ''Never the Bride''. The Stables commissioned the ''Harbour of Songs'' album, produced by
Adrian McNally
Adrian McNally is a record producer, a composer/songwriter and a musician with English folk group the Unthanks, which he also manages. As well as producing all of the Unthanks' albums he has produced the compilation album ''Harbour of Songs'' for ...
of
The Unthanks
The Unthanks (until 2009 called Rachel Unthank and the Winterset) are an English folk group known for their eclectic approach in combining traditional English folk, particularly Northumbrian folk music, with other musical genres."They may cal ...
and released on
Proper Records
Proper Records is an English record label founded by Proper Music Group Chairman - Malcolm Mills and Paul Riley. Commencing with a handful of releases, including the Balham Alligators and Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers, the label grew in ...
in July 2012.
The Stables learning and participation programme features workshops, masterclasses and residential courses.
Alumni from the National Youth Music Camps, founded by
Avril Dankworth
Avril Margaret Dankworth (April 1922 – March 2013) was an English music educator who established the week-long summer Avril Dankworth Children's Music Camps (now the National Music Camps) for children aged between 7 and 17 in Wavendon, near Mi ...
, include
Guy Chambers
Guy Antony Chambers (born 12 January 1963) is an English songwriter, musician and record producer, best known for his work with Robbie Williams.
Education
Chambers attended Quarry Bank Comprehensive School sixth form in Liverpool. From 18, h ...
,
Dominic Miller
Dominic James Miller (born 21 March 1960) is an Argentine-born guitarist. With much of his career as a sideman and guitarist for singer Sting, he has also released several solo albums.
Career
Miller was born in Hurlingham, Argentina to an Iris ...
, Quentin Collins and
Thom Yorke
Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been descri ...
Organisation structure
The Stables is owned by Wavendon Allmusic Plan Ltd (WAP) - a private company limited by guarantee and a registered charity (no 261645) with an aim to engage the widest range of people with music in all its diversity. It is managed by a board of trustees which is responsible for policy and strategic direction. Then there are two wholly owned subsidiary companies, The Stables Theatre (registered charity no 1178665), and The Stables Trading Ltd (currently dormant) which carry out the operational activities of the company.
Dame
Cleo Laine is the Honorary Life President and Dame
Evelyn Glennie
Dame Evelyn Elizabeth Ann Glennie, (born 19 July 1965) is a Scottish percussionist. She was selected as one of the two laureates for the Polar Music Prize of 2015.
Early life
Glennie was born in Methlick, Aberdeenshire in Scotland. The in ...
Honorary Patron. Monica Ferguson is the Chief Executive and Artistic Director.
The Stables is supported by around 250 volunteers and provides training and apprenticeships.
IF: Milton Keynes International Festival
The Stables also produces IF: Milton Keynes International Festival, a multi-arts festival that engages people with music and sound in surprising ways in unusual spaces and places. The biennial festival, founded in 2010, runs for 10 days in July across central Milton Keynes.
IF: Milton Keynes International Festival
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References
External links
* – official site
*
The Stables
at the Milton Keynes International Festival
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stables, The
Buildings and structures in Milton Keynes
Music venues in Buckinghamshire